30 Minutes
by Hypnotized by the Whirl
Summary: Oneshot. A note in a foreign hand. Harry takes chances, following his heart. What happens in 30 minutes can change everything. Slash.


_30 minutes a blink of an eye_

_30 minutes to alter our lives_

_30 minutes to make up my mind_

_30 minutes to finally decide_

_30 minutes to whisper your name_

_30 minutes to shoulder the blame_

_30 minutes of bliss, thirty lies_

_30 minutes to finally decide_

**12:01**

Lunch had just started one Saturday afternoon. The hall was nearly empty, except for random people from the different houses. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were three of these random people.

Not unusually an owl would appear during lunch. It was more common to see these creatures during breakfast, but some were known to sleep in, or forget, or just not want to deliver their mail bright and early. Today, Hedwig was one such owl. She dropped a note on Harry's plate and then rested on his shoulder. He untied the string that held the scroll together and read the note.

**12:02**

"What do you suppose it means?" Harry asked, holding the letter so the three of them could see it. "It's written in some other language, that I can't read."

"Isn't there a translation spell? Hermione, you would know." Ron said.

"I'll go look in the library for a spell. Harry, you should think of who we know from the east. I don't know what it says, but the alphabet is Cyrillic, it's likely Russian." With that, she was off to the library to help her friend out.

"Who do I know that speaks Russian?" Harry thought aloud. He looked around the Great Hall. It was slowly filling with students, but nobody had ever said that they spoke Russian.

**12:03**

** "**Well, we'll just have to wait for Hermione." Ron said. He decided that now would be as good a time as any to start eating. He shoveled food on his plate and started to eat. But Harry's mind was on the note. He looked at it again and again. He couldn't even pretend to decipher it. Some of the letters didn't look like anything he'd seen before.

"Bismpembme mecher ha kpaio threeanpewehhoso nesa." Harry said.

"What was that supposed to be?" Ron said after swallowing the bread that was in his mouth.

"That was my attempt at reading the note, but these words make no sense, I can't even find anything to give me a hint."

"You might as well stop thinking about it and eat, Hermione will be back soon with a spell." Ron was right. Harry started to fill his plate and pushed the note out of his mind.

**12:04**

"Do you think he got the note?" A girl asked.

"I think so; he seems to be thinking hard, probably trying to figure out what it means." A boy replied.

"I don't understand why you had to put it in Russian. What happens if he doesn't figure out what it says?" The same girl asked, turning to another boy sitting to her left.

"I'm sure he will, he's resourceful, he has Granger. She'll find a way to translate it." A second boy said.

"You always have to make things so difficult." The girl said.

"I find it to be much more fun when things are hard." The second boy said again, laughing at his own little joke.

**12:05**

"Harry. Ron." An excited Hermione said as she sat next to her friends. "I just remembered that I know a spell. Here, let me do it quick." Hermione got out her wand, but Harry stopped her.

"Wait, what if this is personal? Can you just tell me the spell and let me do it myself?" Harry asked.

"Of course, Harry. It's a simple wand motion, just bring it up, and point the wand downward at the text." She demonstrated the motion. Harry mimicked her. "And then all you have to say is _Lenguacommuto_." Hermione quickly scribbled some weird markings on the back of the note, and then did the spell. The markings contorted into English text. "I remembered that I used the spell for Ancient Runes."

**12:06**

Seeing how well Hermione did it, he tried to cast the spell, again, and again, and again. But it never switched to English. It went from French, to Spanish, to Portuguese, back to Russian, and again to Spanish. Seeing his trouble, Hermione took the note from Harry, quickly did the spell, and then returned it without reading the note. "Is it good now?" She asked.

Harry could see the words twisting around and forming sentences he could read. "Yeah , thanks Hermione."

"No problem." Hermione said.

"So what does it say?" Ron asked. He had finished eating, and was now focusing on the strange note.

**12:07**

Harry read it over twice, and then said out loud, "Meet me at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Come alone. Love, your secret admirer. There's no name. I wonder who sent me it."

"Well, you should go find out?" They probably want to meet you soon; maybe they're waiting for you right now."

"Ron, are you insane? He can't just go looking for trouble, and that's exactly what he'd be doing if he went out to the Forbidden Forest alone." Hermione said. She grabbed some food and started to eat a little bit. "Harry, you can't go, this could be a trick."

"Let me think about it. I'm going to go up to the common room, I'll meet you there." Harry said as he got up from the table. "Ron, are you coming?"

"Oh sure, why not?" Ron replied as he got up from the table as well. "See ya later, Hermione."

**12:08**

"He's leaving; you might want to go and make sure that you're there before he is." Pansy said. "You don't want him to be waiting for his surprise." Pansy giggled. She was unaware of Draco's intentions, but she assumed he wanted to put Harry in his place.

"I'm going; I'll meet you guys in the common room with news of what happened." He left his friends at the table and left the Great Hall, all the while hoping that this worked. For the last few weeks he had felt such an odd feeling toward Harry, and he wasn't sure why. With this encounter, he'd be able to figure it out once and for all.

**12:09**

BAM! Lost in his thoughts, Draco had run right into Ron as they all exited the Great Hall. "Watch where you're walking, Weasel." Draco said, annoyed that he was thrown out of his thought by this pest.

"You ran into me, Ferret-boy. Maybe you should pull your head out of your ass so you can see where you're going. "What are you even doing, following us? You just happen to leave the same moment we do."

"I need some fresh air," Draco drawled. "The stench of that Mudblood of yours is irritating my sinuses."

**12:10 **

"You son of a bitch." Ron yelled. He tried to lunge for Malfoy, but Harry had stopped him. "My fist will be affecting your sinuses next. Harry, let me at him."

"Ron, don't waste your energy on this worthless piece of scum." Harry said. "Draco, are you sure you're not just smelling your girlfriend. Has Pansy ever actually seen a bar of soap before?"

On the inside, Draco was a mess of emotions, he was confused about Harry, mad that he was called worthless, ready to fight Ron and laughing at the joke that Harry had made. But on the outside he was maintaining his cold façade. "Come on, Weasel, don't let Potter hold you back." He withdrew his wand. "I'm ready when you are."

**12:11**

"Let's just go." Harry said, half asking Ron, half telling.

"That's a good boy, do what Harry tells you. And by the way Pansy's not my girlfriend." Draco said as he walked towards the castle doors that opened to the grounds.

"Why do you have to be so nice to him? I'm your friend, and so is Hermione, he called her the 'm' word and you just stand there. Why can't you let me beat him up, just a little?"

"Because, well," Harry started. He didn't know what to say. He was developing these strange feelings for Draco, he wasn't sure what brought them on, but he felt something unexplainable around him. And it had completely flustered Harry when Draco had called him by his first name.

**12:12**

"It's because I don't want you to get in trouble for attacking that creep." Harry settled on saying. "He isn't worth the detention."

"That depends on who you're asking." Ron retorted. Harry gave him a look. "Ok, all right, it's not worth it." They started up the stairs to their common room. "So what's the plan for the note?"

"I'll tell you when we get upstairs." Harry replied.

**12:13**

"Why do I always say the wrong thing?" Draco thought aloud. "Every time I'm around him, my mouth and my mind do not work in harmony. If I want him to like me, I can't go around bashing his best friends." Draco sighed as he walked along the grounds towards the Forbidden Forest. "After that, the moment he sees me, he's either going to walk away, or tackle me." He thought for a moment and figured he'd rather be tackled. Contact was contact.

**12:14**

"Are you ready to tell me about what you're going to do?" Ron asked.

"It's more like what we're going to do." Harry said as he ran up to the dormitory, a moment later he showed him the invisibility cloak. "You're going to put this on and follow me to the forest. If there's trouble, like Death Eater trouble, I'll hold them off while you get help. If it's fine, you can just leave and they'll be none the wiser."

"And what if it's in-between, like trouble, but not high-scale?" Ron asked.

"Then you'll be my backup." Harry answered.

"Sounds good to me." Ron said.

**12:15**

As they made their ways down the stairs, Harry in the open, Ron invisible to the naked eye, Hermione was making her way up. "Where are you going Harry?" She asked.

"To the Forbidden Forest." Harry replied.

"Alone? You can't do that, you could get hurt." Hermione said.

"Ron's behind me." Harry assured her. He patted down on his invisible head. "Nothing to worry about." And with that he descended the stairs and went out onto the grounds.

**12:16**

_Those two are just looking for trouble_. Hermione thought. She mumbled the password, and entered the Common Room. Then she had a thought. She ran up to the Boy's dorm and started digging through Harry's trunk. _Here it is_. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." Hermione whispered to the blank piece of parchment. Suddenly, a map of the grounds appeared. "Draco. They're in trouble. Who knows what he's going to do to them." She put the parchment away and ran back down to the Great Hall, she knew she couldn't reach them in time, but maybe she could get some answers.

**12:17**

** "**Who do you suppose is waiting for me?" Harry asked Ron. He was glad nobody was around, because it would appear he was talking to himself.

"Maybe it's Cho. She always had a little crush on you." Ron answered.

"It could be Ginny. She always had a crush on me too." Harry said. "Ow." Ron responded to his comment. "Well I don't think it is Cho, we've never really been the same since last year when Marietta ruined the D.A. for us."

"Well, I don't think it's Ginny either." Ron said.

"We'll find out soon enough won't we?"

**12:18**

Hermione burst into the Great Hall, and walked over to the Slytherin table. All eyes were on her as she approached the Slytherin table. "Pansy," She started as she sat down at the table. "What does Draco want with Harry?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Pansy replied.

"I'm sure you do." Hermione said.

"Nope, sorry, I wish I could help you, but, no wait, I'm happy that I'm of no help."

Hermione realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere with Pansy. She decided to try her feminine wiles on Blaise. "What about you?" She asked, doing her best to flirt with him. She was going to have to take a shower later, she felt dirty just pretending. "What do you know?"

Blaise was getting hot under the collar. "Um well, I don't know, he wanted to talk with him, that's all he told me."

"He'll probably want to make his father proud. Killing Harry would definitely make him proud."

Hermione left with a start, and of all people, Blaise followed her.

**12:19**

Draco was waiting as patiently as he could, but he was becoming worried that Harry wasn't coming. _Where is he?_ He thought. He lied down on the grass and tried to gather his thoughts. He didn't know what he would say to him. _Do I let him know what I feel, or should I beat around the bush? What if he attacks me, I wouldn't blame him._ He heard some rustling, and saw Harry come closer to him. _Shit, what do I do?_

**12:20**

"Is that Malfoy?" Ron asked. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Maybe Hermione was right, maybe this is a trap." Harry's heart was pounding. He put his hand in his pocket and gripped his wand, in case it was indeed a setup, but what if Draco was sincere, that he wanted to meet him and talk because he liked him. "I have an idea Ron. Sneak around behind Hagrid's house, and sneak up on him. That way he won't hear you coming and we'll have an advantage. Ron agreed and proceeded to make his way around Hagrid's shack.

**12:21**

"Granger, wait a minute." Blaise said as he chased Hermione onto the grounds. "It's not what you think."

"It's not what I think?" Hermione asked. "Were you listening to Pansy? Harry's going to get hurt."

"I told you it's not what you think, in fact, I'm pretty sure Draco's going to be the one who gets hurt."

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Pansy doesn't know, because he didn't tell her, because he thought, and I agreed, that she wouldn't understand. Draco is falling for Potter."

"What?" Hermione asked. "You're joking."

"No, I wish I were, because they will not work out together, but that's exactly what's going on. Draco just wanted to see where Harry stood. He realizes that love, probably won't happen, but he really wants Harry to like him, even as a friend."

"Oh." Was all Hermione could say. "Ron's with Harry, they may try to gang up on Draco. We should help him." That didn't sound right, but she was actually going to help Draco.

**12:22**

"Malfoy, what do you want?" Harry asked, slowly approaching him, still clutching his wand.

"To talk, I'm not looking for a fight or anything, so you can let go of the wand in your pocket." Draco said, holding his hands up to prove there was nothing in them. "I needed to tell you something."

"What is it?" He realized his heart was pounding quickly and his voice was kind of airy, so he quickly added, gruffly, "What, Malfoy?"

"Remember Madam Malkin's, it was the first day we met. I saw you, you looked so scared, I thought you were so cute. I hadn't even realized who you were at that point, but then I saw you again, on the train. I wanted to be your friend, but you refused. I was so angry, because I knew it was something I said that made it so hard for you to accept me as a friend."

"Ron was my friend at that point and you mocked him."

"I know that now, and I regret it almost every day."

**12:23**

** "**Zabini, look around Hagrid's shack, maybe Ron is hiding there." Hermione told him. As he was walking that way, Hermione noticed footprints being made in the mud. She realized that must be Ron and pulled out her wand. "_Locomotor Mortis."_ She said as she pointed her wand in the direction of where she thought Ron was. When she heard a thump on the ground she quickly ran over to Ron's side. "Are you okay?" She asked as she took off the invisibility cloak and performed the counter curse.

"Bloody hell, Hermione, what was that for?"

"I needed to stop you from hurting Malfoy; he isn't going to hurt Harry."

"Who told you that?'

"Zabini did."

"And you trusted him, he's a Slytherin, Hermione, he probably tricked you."

**12:24**

After a minute of awkward silence, Draco finally asked, "If I ask you again, to be my friend, is there anyway you could say yes."

Harry looked at Draco, his eyes looked sincere, and he almost looked as if he would break if he didn't have this second chance. "Yes, Draco, we can try this, friendship thing, of course you'll have to stop being an asshole to Hermione and Ron."

"I know, of course." Draco was inexplicably happy at that moment. He didn't mean to, he was never one for friendly contact, but he hugged Harry.

Harry was shocked at this display of emotion, but he returned the embrace. He breathed in Draco's scent, and he felt dizzy, the emotions that he had started feeling a week before had risen up. He wanted to be with Draco. He knew what he wanted to do. He began to whisper in Draco's ear, "I know this is sudden and unexpected, but Draco, I want to ki…" He saw someone he recognized behind Hagrid's shack and his blood began to boil.

**12:25**

"…ll you. You asshole. I thought you were being real about your feelings, but you just wanted to humiliate me." He pushed Draco out of his arms. "This was all a trick."

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Draco asked, confused at this outburst.

"Don't play the fool, Malfoy." Harry spat out his name. "I can see Zabini behind Hagrid's house." His eyes became misty; he really had fallen for Draco.

"Harry, wait, I didn't tell him to come. Please believe me." Draco was running after Harry. "I wasn't trying to hurt you." But it was useless. Harry was too far gone. The hurt in Draco's heart had turn to rage and he turned around and charged Blaise.

**12:26**

"Blaise." He shouted. Blaise had looked up at Draco running towards him. "I'm going to kill you." He tackled his friend and started to thrash him. The sound of Blaise's screaming made Ron and Hermione run to the other side of the shack.

"Malfoy!" Hermione screamed. "Get off of him." Both she and Ron had run over and forced Draco off of Blaise. "What is wrong with you?"

"He," Malfoy started pointing his finger at Blaise, "Made Harry think I was trying to ambush him. What the hell are you doing here?"

"To stop her from thinking you were going to attack Harry. Pansy implied that you were going to kill Harry and these two tried to save him." Blaise said.

**12:27**

Draco sat on the ground, broken. "So that's it." He said in a defeated voice. "I have no chance anymore, do I. He's gone, and I'll never have another opportunity to get him back. I can't face him again if he hates me."

Hermione knelt by his side. "Hate isn't the worst thing he can feel towards you. Indifference is, neither hating nor loving. Hate means he still feels something towards you, and if he truly does hate you, he'd have to have felt something strong for you. It's probably not too late to repair this. "Ron help Blaise get Draco back to the castle, I'm going to go talk to Harry."

**12:28**

As Hermione ran off to the castle, Ron found himself in a situation that he was not happy about. He helped Draco to his feet and assisted Blaise in bringing him to the castle. "If you had told me this morning I'd be helping Draco Malfoy win the heart of my best mate, I would have had to resist the urge to laugh in their face."

"I'm not a bad person, Weasel, I mean, Weasley." Draco insisted.

"Everything you've called Hermione, every joke you've made about my family, give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex you right now."

"I'm right here." Blaise said.

"I'd take the risk." Ron retorted.

"Because Harry feels something for me too, beyond hate. I know it. Why else would he have held you back earlier." Draco answered. Ron accepted this answer; and continued to help him to the castle.

**12:29**

"Harry, stop right there." Hermione called, she had reached Harry just as he started to go up the stairs.

"What do you want, Hermione?" He asked stepping back down one step.

"To talk to you about Draco." She answered as she climbed the stairs.

"I have nothing to say about him."

She ran in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "I know you're hurt, and I know that you like him or you wouldn't be feeling this way. Blaise wasn't there to attack you; he was there to stop me from attacking Draco. Everything Draco said was true."

"You're lying to me." Harry said.

"This is Draco Malfoy we're talking about, I should be pushing you away from him, but then I would be lying. Please, give him another chance; he didn't know Blaise was there. Trust me. Have I ever been wrong?" Hermione smiled down at him.

"No, I guess you haven't. I don't know. I think I love him, but it's so strange, we've hated each other for the last 5 ½ years, to suddenly change that would be weird.

**12:30**

"Well here's your last chance to decide if you want to change it or not." Hermione said, pointing to the three boys who had just entered.

"Harry!" Draco exclaimed as he came through the doors. He had let go and ran to the bottom of the staircase. "I'm so sorry, but I swear I had nothing to do with it."

"I know it's not your fault. It's mine. I didn't wait for an explanation. I should've known you were sincere about your feelings." Harry said.

"Will we be ok?" Draco asked, putting his arms around Harry's waste.

"I think we will be." Harry replied. "Now I never got to ask you for that kiss.

"I think you know the answer." Draco said smiling. They kissed right then and there, amidst a beaming Hermione, a smiling Blaise, and a grimacing Ron, even though he was happy for his mate. They were all happy for the two.

"This is strange, but it's good." Harry said, pulling Draco into a tighter embrace.

A/N: I've posted this story before, awhile ago. I tweaked it slightly, but it's mostly the same. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated.


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